Turkish police clamp down on anti-government protests: LIVE UPDATES

A protester throws back a tear gas canister at riot police during clashes between police and demonstrators in the streets adjacent to Taksim square in Istanbul, on June 16, 2013 (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic) / AFP

Turkey is gripped by some of the country's worst political uprising in years with protests continue since the end of May. Five people have been killed, thousands injured and scores arrested while Ankara is criticized for its crackdown on the protests.

17:29 GMT: Turkish police have cleared Istiklal Avenue, firing water cannon and
tear gas at hundreds of protesters as they gathered to march to
Gezi Park. The park has been a cradle of anti-government unrest
for weeks.

Demonstrators have been protesting against a recently
imposed law which blocked the authority of the Union of Chambers
of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) from approving urban
planning projects. They gathered at Istiklal Avenue to march to
Gezi Park, which is located a short walking distance away.

Saturday, July 13

18:51 GMT: Around 50 people who were detained
because of the Gezi park protests in Istanbul began a hunger strike on Wednesday, as prosecutors
extended their detention period and the death toll from the Gezi
Park incidents rose to five, Turkish media reported.

The move by prosecutors was met with strong public
reaction, with the Taksim Solidarity Platform and other human
rights organizations and unions calling for the detainees’
immediate release, Radikal, a Turkish daily, reported.

Wednesday, July 10

16:41 GMT: Turkish police used water cannon and tear
gas to disperse protesters who tried to defy a closure
order and enter Istanbul’s Gezi Park.

Monday, July 8

15:21 GMT: A Turkish Court has cancelled plans to redevelop Taksim Square,
according to court ruling from early June obtained by Reuters.
The authorities planned to turn the park into a monument to the
Ottoman Empire, which sparked mass protests last month.

The court ruled in early June during the height of the unrest
that the government’s plan to rebuild the square broke
preservation rules, that it spoiled the square’s identity and
broke other regulations, according to a lawyer for the
plaintiffs.

Wednesday, July 3

15:05 GMT: Kurdish protesters entered violent clashes with
security forces in the southeastern province of Sirnak, burning
tires and closing off a main road in the Cizre district. Some
lobbed firebombs at police forces who tried to suppress the
gathering by deploying water cannons and tear gas against the
protesters. The demonstrators had been rallying against the
killing of an 18 year old by police on Friday.

Sunday, June 30

22:30 GMT: Anti-government protesters rallied in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday
night, incorporating solidarity with Friday's Kurdish protester
casualties into their agenda. The demonstration was dispersed
after a couple of hours following a police warning, as law
enforcement used shields to push the crowd away from the square.
Water cannon trucks were also present but no water was
fired.

Saturday, June 29

11:00 GMT: Police killed an 18 year old Kurdish protester
in in southeastern Turkey and wounded at least 10 others as they
fired on a group of around 250 people that was protesting the
construction of a gendarmerie outpost in the Lice district
of Diyarbakir province.

Friday, June 28

11:00 GMT: Turkish police have detained 20 people in a
series of raids throughout the capital Ankara for their alleged
involvement in weeks of anti-government protests. Some 30
addresses in total were targeted, with those detained allegedly
being members of an unspecified “terrorist” organization, CNNTurk
reports. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had previously charged
that protesters in the nationwide demonstration were being
manipulated by “terrorists.” The operations were reportedly
conducted against individuals who had attacked police officers,
business and public property. A police spokesperson in the
capital was unable to provide any further information on the
raids.

Tuesday, June 25

2:06 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has
decried the protester movement during a pro-government rally on
Sunday night. He defended the actions of riot police who
dispersed protesters on Saturday with water cannons and applauded
his supporters for opposing a so-called “plot” against
Turkey.

"The people saw this game from the start and frustrated it.
They (the protesters) thought the people would
say nothing. They said we will burn and destroy and do what we
want but the people will do nothing," he said.

Monday, June 24

15:20 GMT: Approximately 2.5 million people have taken to
the streets across Turkey since May 31, when a harsh police
crackdown against activist’s in Istanbul’s Gezi Park prompted
mass nationwide anti-government protests, Hurriyet cites a report
by the country’s Interior Ministry as saying.

Major protests were seen in 79 cities, with a majority of the
demonstrations taking place in Ankara and Istanbul. Five people
have reportedly been killed and around 4,000 injured – including
600 police officers – since the unrest began. Around 4,900
protesters have been detained. The report further says that some
58 public buildings and 337 private businesses were damaged,
while 240 police vehicles, 214 private cars, 90 municipal buses
and 45 ambulances were left unusable. The total damages are
estimated in excess of $72 million.

11:44 GMT: Fifteen protesters were detained after
attempting to break through a police cordon to enter Taksim
Square on Saturday. The detainees were taken to taken to a police
station in Istanbul’s Fatih district for questioning, Sunday’s
Zaman reports.

Sunday, June 23

19:30 GMT: Reports of rubber bullets being fired to
disperse protesters have emerged. Local channel Artibir tv has
shown a live broadcast of police wielding guns.

Police have been shooting people with paint-balls to mark their
potential detainees.

"The police has taken the side street, Istiklal.
Children have been affected by the gas. It's dark, the gas
came."
18:55 GMT: A handful of reports on Twitter suggest the police
have been unleashing clouds of teargas.

"There were people on the street for 30 seconds before
eating at the tables!"

It is claimed that the photograph was taken on Istiklal
Street, just off Taksim Square.

18:45 GMT: No political messages or banners have been wielded
during the protest - only Taksim Platform banners and the
national flag. The crowd had also been condemning the park's
closure, chanting "open park, belonging to the public,"
according to Hurriyet.
18:30 GMT:

Now back to Taksim Sq. TOMA again attacking w/pressured
water. A cop hit this guy, fell and waiting for ambulance
pic.twitter.com/QsCOUdqhqn

18:20 GMT: The water cannon fired a few short bursts at a
cluster of remaining protesters.The surrounding crowd started
booing them. Some shouting and minor scuffles between individual
police and protesters shortly followed.

Some groups of people have been shouting "where is the
shampoo?" in response to the water cannon attacks.
18:00 GMT: Remaining people in the area are continuing to
chant, undeterred by the unleashing of water cannons less than
half an hour ago.

Well, looks like the police attacked what had been a
completely peaceful, unremarkable protest.

17:45 GMT: Police deployed the water cannon down a narrow
side street into a dense crowd.

17:39 GMT: The square is drenched and almost empty but crowds
linger in the surrounding streets.

Protesters had been throwing red carnations to police officers in
an attempt to signify that they would like to keep the
demonstration peaceful.

Protesters had been laying the flowers down in memory of those
killed across the three weeks of anti-government action.

Only nine members of the Taksim Platform were allowed by
Istanbul's Governor Office to lay their flowers down in Gezi Park
itself, in memory of the three demonstrators and one policeman
who have died over the course of the protests.

17:35 GMT: Police have turned the water cannon on protesters
in Taksim square after attempting to disperse crowds by pushing
them away.

16:55 GMT: Riot police are moving in on the demonstrators,
greeted by a wave of loud boos from the crowd, who still vastly
outnumber them.

"Pepper gas ole," the crowd chant.
16:45 GMT: Eyewitnesses report that people are chanting
"this is only the beginning of our struggle,” as they
gather in the square. Water cannons and armored vehicles are on
standby, with a heavy police presence also identifiable.
16:18 GMT: Hundreds of people have gathered in Istanbul’s
Taksim Square. Riot police are on standby.

14:50 GMT: Erdogan is giving a speech on the Gezi Park
protests, commenting that "the recent protests have from the
beginning been carried out with malicious intentions," and
accusing protesters of publishing fabricated news, "trampling
on justice," and being "pawns" in a dirty game,
Anadolu Agency reports.

"It is a betrayal to show Turkish police as pro-violence in
the international media," he said. Erdogan identified both
winners and losers emerging from the protests, conceding that
"Turkey's economy, tourism, as well as its international image
and influence" had suffered as a result. He added that
"Turkey's enemies" were the winners.

"Nobody but God will have the power to overthrow our
government," Erdogan claimed.
He went on to declare that the protests in Turkey and
Brazil were essentially the same
thing."It was the same game being played on
Brazil, and same symbols, same banners, and the same
international media. They are doing their best to achieve in
Brazil what they could not achieve in Turkey," he said.

12:00 GMT: A demonstration has been scheduled for 7 p.m.
Saturday (local time) in Taksim Square, with other discussion
forums being held across Istanbul's parks. Plans are also in
place to lay carnations down.

Some non-confrontational methods of objection to the government
have been attempted over the past few days, such as standing
completely still.

11:15 GMT: 31 people were arrested across Ankara and
Istanbul over the protests in the early hours of Saturday,
bringing the total number to 55. The demonstrators stood accused
of organizing demostrations and provoking violence during clashes
with police. A small group assembled outside court to protest
against the prosecution of people who had participated in the
protests.

Clashes broke out again late on Friday night close to the US
embassy in Ankara. Police deployed tear gas and watter cannons
against protesters who had been making a blockade on the road.
One protester reportedly passed out as a result of the gassing,
according to Hürriyet.
11:00 GMT: PM Erdogan's chief adviser has accused the Peace
and Democracy Party (BDP) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
of being opportunistic and taking advantage of the Gezi Park
protests to further their own political agenda. "They intend
to put the government under pressure in order to obtain
benefits," Yalçın Akdoğan wrote in his Daily Star column,
going on to comment that the BPD is ignoring the fact that the
Gezi Park protesters are supposedly "staunchly against the
process." The beginning of the second round of talks was
announced on Friday. The PKK withdrew militants from Turkish soil
on May 8. However, suspicions rose on Friday when a Turkish
helicopter was shot at by terrorists in the south east of the
country.

Saturday June 22

14:00 GMT: Erdogan said at the AKP rally that "Taksim
Square is not a place for demonstrations. Gezi Park is not the
property of occupying groups." He went on to accuse
protesters of using Gezi Park as a pretext to destroy Turkey's
economy and democracy, according to Turkey's Anadolu Agency.
12:30 GMT: Turkish PM Erdogan has addressed AKP supporters,
saying that he knew the people were against protesters using
violence. "Today, Anatolia and Thrace are joining together.
[They] are rebelling against vandalism and barbarism," he
said, according to Hürriyet. "Your riot is against rebels
who use violence."
12:00 GMT: Two Turkish channels have been fined for airing
bad language while live-streaming protests in Istanbul, according
to Hürriyet daily news. Ulusal TV and Beyaz TV were fined over
11,000 Lira each for live interviews where the speaker used
offensive words, with one telling Erdogan to "**** off."
11:30 GMT: Germany has summoned the Turkish ambassador to
complain about a government minister who criticized Chancellor
Angela Merkel after she said she was appalled at the Turkish
police's overly harsh treatment of protesters.

"If Mrs. Merkel looks into it, she will see that those who
mess around with Turkey do not have an auspicious end,"
Turkey's minister for relations with the European Union, Egemen
Bağış said Thursday. The response was described as
"unacceptable" by a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson,
according to Reuters.

Turkey is in talks over European Union membership, and Germany
has blocked the next step in light of the country's approach to
dealing with the unrest.
11:00 GMT The 'Occupy Gezi' protests have cost Istanbul a
reported €54.7 million in tourism, with over 215,000 reservations
canceled between May 31 and June across 298 hotels in the city.
Requests for future bookings have also fallen by an average of 55
percent.
02:55 GMT: In the third week of protests, the Turkish
government is applying preventative measures to quell public
discontent. Heavy law enforcement presence is seen in Turkey as
police trucks use water cannons and tear gas before clusters of
protests gain the momentum.

“The police are trying to screw down the pressure on these
protesters,” RT’s Tom Barton reported from the scene in
Ankara, adding that the police have stopped crowds from forming
as “trucks with water cannons charged up the street”
spraying protesters. “A real liberal use of water canon there,
stripping the bark of trees, leaving debris scattered in the
roads,” Barton noted.

As patches of protesters fled to side streets, “a lot of gas
use” was applied to disperse the activists. Barton explained
that water canon vehicles “can also squirt tear gas from the
sides of the truck.”
“Any protester approaching it gets a blast of this stuff in his
face,” Barton reported explaining that “all of this is
forcing the protestors onto the side streets” as police also
“fired gas canisters.”

Barton says this has further enraged the protesters as
“evidence of heavy tactics by the police force that they
criticize for protecting Prime Minister’s Erdogan authoritarian
government.”

Friday, June 21

19:00 GMT:

15:30 GMT: Police raided tents set up in Izmir's Gündoğdu
Square in support of the Gezi Park protests. Around 30 of the
demonstrators who had been camping were detained by police after
they began to fight back against the forced removal of their
tents. The confrontation followed a previous attempt to converse
with the police.

A further 13 protesters have been detained in Turkey for alleged
vandalism, use of firebombs and inciting riots, according to the
Andalous News Agency.
09:10 GMT: Turkish police arrested more than 100 protesters
in the western city of Izmir during a demonstration and carried
out 15 house raids, local media reported on Thursday.

01:50 GMT:Turkish law enforcement
has fired water cannon to stop hundreds of protesters marching on
Ankara's streets against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK).

“The police charged in here with two vehicles firing tear gas
– everyone in this square chocking on that having to dive for
cover” RT’s Tom Barton reported from the scene.

“The water canon blasting everything around left branches
hanging off the trees, and debris, and water all over the
streets,” Barton added.

RT’s correspondent said that the police launched a surprise
assault on the protesters making them flee, “very shocked from
the sudden onrush of these police vehicles.”

Earlier on Wednesday, thousands of activists flocked into Taksim
Square in Istanbul as protesters held a candlelit vigil in
Abbasaga Park for those killed during last week's clashes.

Thursday, June 20

12:45 GMT: Turkish police
are running out of pepper spray canisters, TV channel CNN Turk
reported. Turkey’s security department is drawing up a contract
to refill its stocks of non-lethal weapons. So far, 130,000
pepper spray canisters have been used against the demonstrators,
as protests rocking the country enter their third week.

12:30 GMT: Hundreds of protesters stood still on the
squares and main streets of several cities across Turkey on
Wednesday, imitating the lone protester who started the trend on
Istanbul's Taksim Square on Monday, dubbed the ‘Standing Man.’
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters that this new
type of protest is peaceful and "pleasing to the eye."

12:25 GMT: Around 5,000 demonstrators joined an all-night
protest on Tuesday that stretched into early morning Wednesday.
Police then intervened with gas bombs and water cannons. Three
protesters, a journalist and a police officer were injured,
Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Wednesday, June 19

23:00 GMT: The Turkish
government is mulling a draft law that aims to crack down on those who post
"provocative material" on social media. The law will grant
the government powers to investigate and prosecute individuals
who publish offending material.

22:15 GMT: Police in Ankara made 25 arrests on Tuesday in multiple raids at addresses
across the Turkish capital, local media reported. In a similar
crackdown in Istanbul officers took 66 activists into custody, as
well as 13 in the western city of Eskisehir.

Tuesday, June 18

Ankara threatened on Monday to deploy armed forces if the police
fail to quell anti-government protests in the country. On Monday
the security apparatus used force to disperse trade union
strikers with tear gas and water cannon. The government also
called the general strike announced by unions “illegal.” Despite
this, Turkish trade unionists are calling for more strikes and
marches in cities across the nation. Meanwhile bulldozers cleared
the barricades at Taksim Square which has been closed to the
public for two days.

16:14 GMT: The police tear gassed and dispersed the trade
unionists’ sit-in in Istanbul’s Sisli district, Ruptly’s Lizzie
Phelan reports. Meanwhile, the unions seem to have withdrawn
their members from protests in nearby Istiklal Avenue, which runs
into Taksim, RT’s Irina Galushko tweets.

13:00 GMT: Taksim Square has been opened to public
following two days of being completely cordoned off by the
police. Traffic hasn’t yet been allowed to circulate in the
square, but the Metro trains already stop next to the site, torn
by the protests over the last few days.

12:21 GMT: A group of protesters wearing white masks have
occupied the area in front of the Turkish consulate in Venice.
The demonstrators say it is an act of solidarity for the
anti-government protesters in Turkey.

10:27 GMT: Riot police in the Turkish capital of Ankara
have issued a warning to around 1,000 trade union workers who are
blocking a main avenue in the city center. Police threatened that
force will be used to break up the protesters if they do not
disperse of their own volition.

"Those of you on the streets must stop blocking the streets.
Do not be provoked. The police will use force," police
officers shouted through megaphones as several water cannon were
positioned a few hundred meters away.

10:11 GMT: The Turkish police arrested 441 people
following the violent clashes that broke out between officers and
anti-government protesters in Istanbul on Sunday night, the
city’s bar association said on Monday. Riot police backed by
helicopters broke up crowds of protesters on Sunday and then
pursued them into side streets to prevent them from regrouping.

Monday, June 17

20:05 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has addressed a
200,000-strong crowd of the international religious Gulen
Movement supporters at the closing ceremony of the Turkish
language Olympiads.

Erdogan again slammed the protesters, saying that there have been
“two Turkeys,” and that he is against the violent one.

Erdogan did a fait accompli by addressing this distinct
group as if they are against the GeziPark protests, in fact,
they are not at all.

Erdogan on Sunday said that the Turkish nation “is not the one
banging pots at night,” calling on his supporters to hang
national flags in their homes as an “answer” to
protesters.

17:31 GMT: A crowd of people tried to lynch
anti-government protesters in the Central Anatolia Region city of
Konya, Hurriyet reports. Police reportedly intervened, placing
the protesters on buses away from the scene.

17:06 GMT: Police are detaining large groups of protesters
in the streets leading to Taksim Square, reports on Twitter
say.

16:36 GMT: Five Turkish trade unions, including the
240,000 member strong public sector union confederation KESK,
have announced they would call a nationwide strike for Monday in
protest of police violence at Taksim.

“KESK members will go to their workplaces tomorrow, they will
read a statement, and they will take to the streets,” KESK
General Secretary Ismail Hakkı Tombul said.

Trade unions are expecting hundreds of thousands to take to the
streets, using their “power of production,” Hakkı Tombul
said.

13:20 GMT: As thousands are gathering for a pro-goverment
rally in Istanbul, Twitter reports suggest streets outside Taksim
Square are filled with tear gas. Sporadic clashes are reported as
protesters try to push through the cordons into the square.

12:33 GMT: Istanbul's authorities will not allow an
anti-government protest in the city's central Taksim Square after
a night of unrest, the governor said.

"There is a call for gathering in Taksim at 1600 (1300
GMT)," Governor Huseyin Avnni Mutlu told reporters. “After
the current environment becomes stable, they can continue
exercising their democratic rights. Under current circumstances
we will not allow any gathering.”

12:01 GMT: Tear gas and water cannon were used to disperse
a crowd of demonstrators in Ankara’s Kizilay Square, after police
had blocked the funeral procession of Ethem Sarisuluk and refused
to allow the commemorative demonstration at the place he was
fatally wounded.

Following failed negotiations with the police, the procession had
to turn back from the square after the raid, Hurriyet reported.

The killed 26-year-old protester was allegedly shot by a police
bullet on June 1.

11:33 GMT: A Turkish opposition party member has claimed
that his nose was broken during the violent protests on Saturday
night in Istanbul. Ramis Topal, a member of the Republican
People’s Party said he was injured when police moved in to clear
out protesters from Gezi Park .

“A policeman threw a helmet right into my face by aiming,” the
newspaper quoted Topal as saying,” he told daily newspaper,
the Rafikal. He added that police also kicked him when he tried
to prevent them from launching tear gas into a hotel where some
injured people were being treated.

11:26 GMT:

Police now clashing with protesters in Istiklal street near
Taksim, more riot police deployed to the area.

05:58 GMT: Those protesters who return to Taksim Square
will be considered members of a terrorist organization, Turkey’s
EU Minister has said in an interview.
“I request our citizens who supported the protests until today
kindly to return to their homes,” Egemen Bagis said to
broadcaster A Haber. He added that activists were playing into
the hands of extremists groups who are bent on vandalism and
terrorism.

04:00 GMT: The Istanbul Hilton had given refuge to
protesters escaping the police. But law enforcement had stormed
the lobby and bar to drive them out in the government’s attempt
to regain control of the area. Earlier in the night, RT's news
agency, RUPTLY, captured the following scene.

01:00 GMT: Around 100 police officers now man the Bosporus
Bridge, trying to stop protesters from reaching the European
side.

00:00 GMT: The video posted on social networks allegedly
shows police using water cannon against protesters taking refuge
at the German Hospital not far from Taksim Square.

Sunday, June 16

Clashes have been reported across Istanbul, with police using
tear gas and water cannon to stop people from reaching Taksim
Square. Both of the metropolis’ highways remain swamped with
traffic and demonstrators. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
demanded the protesters leave Taksim Square before Sunday,
warning them of police intervention should they fail to do so.
That’s as the city’s government put the number of injured in
clashes at 29, contrary to the reports of hundreds who suffered
in the violence. Labor unions are planning to stage a general
strike on Monday.

23:34 GMT: Clashes have been confirmed near the Fikirtepe
metro-bus station. They have also resumed in Siraselviler, with
police using tear gas and water cannon to prevent people from
reaching Taksim again.

Further to this, specialized police vehicles now roam Istanbul’s
streets, and there are unconfirmed rumors of military police.

It is confirmed now. Riot police and thousands of protesters
clash near Fikirtepe metrobus station, the highway is totally
blocked.

21:37 GMT: RT Spanish correspondent Aleksandra Bondarenko
has been hit by a rubber bullet while covering events in
Istanbul. She says she was not injured thanks to bullet-proof
vest.

21:13 GMT: Istanbul's governor says that reports of
hundreds being injured are false and that the number is closer to
29, according to journalist Mahir Zeynalov. The news comes as
literally thousands march on Istanbl's major E-5 highway, which
is now completely blocked up.

20:50 GMT: A Turkish public sector labor union has
announced plans for a general strike on Monday, after Saturday’s
events that included another police raid on Gezi Park.

A spokesman for the Public Workers Unions Confederation (KESK)
told Reuters: "We had already taken a decision to go on strike
if there was an intervention on the park. So tomorrow we will
declare a strike for Monday." The organization lists 240,000
members in 11 unions.

Another group, called the Revolutionary Trade Unions (DISK) is
also deliberating on whether to hold a strike, according to an
official of theirs.

20:32 GMT:

Govt badly mistaken if they thought they could end this
easily. More ppl coming from Asian side. Shaping up to be most
explosive night yet

20:10 GMT: The ruling Justice and Development Party's
(AKP) Spokeperson Huseyin Celik slammed the Taksim Solidarity
Platform for not calling an end to their protest after meeting
with Prime Minister Erdogan two days prior.

“A country’s prime minister will meet you for 10 hours, you
will reach an agreement then say something else behind his back.
Wouldn’t you feel cheated [if you were in his shoes?]”, the
Turkish daily Hurriyet cites Celik as saying.

CElik continued that the police evacuation could not have waited
until Sunday.

20:00 GMT: The Istanbul Governor’s office said 29 people
had been injured after Turkish riot police moved in to clear Gezi
Park, though none were in critical condition.

19:46 GMT: The Confederation of Public Workers' Unions
(KESK) and the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of
Turkey (DISK), two of Turkey’s four major national trade unions,
will reportedly hold a general strike in response to the police
raid on Gezi Park.

19:26 GMT:

Police just fired year gas at a group of 4 American
journalists yelling "we're journalists"

18:51 GMT: Work crews are walking along side bulldozers in
an effort to clear the remnants of the sit-in camp in Gezi
Park.

18:46 GMT: Hundreds of protesters are reportedly clashing
with police on Istiklal Avenue, a primary thoroughfare in the
heart of Istanbul which leads up to Taksim Square.

18:39 GMT: RT’s Irina Galushko says police are now
removing tent’s from Gezi Park. Earlier in the day, protesters
had decided on their own initiative to remove all but one tent
from the area “in order to make more room and organize Gezi
Park.”

18:30 GMT: A photograph depicting what has been described
as a protester who was run down by a water cannon truck near Gezi
Park. The man was reportedly screaming "I'm dying." The
image has not been independently verified. Dozens of protesters
have reportedly been injured since police moved in to clear the
park.

“We have our Istanbul rally tomorrow. I say it clearly: Taksim
Square must be evacuated, otherwise this country’s security
forces know how to evacuate it,” Erdogan said in Ankara, as
he announced the Sunday rally in support of his party AKP.

15:09 GMT: A rally in support of Prime Minister Ergodan’s
party AKP, titled ‘Respect for the National Will’ by the
organizers, has gathered tens of thousands of attendees in
Ankara, according to AP.

15:05 GMT: Protesters in Istanbul’s Gezi Park have
agreed to remove barricades standing at the park’s entrance from
Taksim Square, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reports. The activists,
united under the banner of the Taksim Solidarity Platform,
further agreed to remove their tents “in order to make more
room and organize Gezi Park.” The sit-in demonstration will
reportedly continue with one common tent for all 116
organizations, who promised to “stand guard” at Gezi Park.
The park will also be cleared of banners baring the logos of
various political parties and other organizations. The decision
follows a late night meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan on June 13. After an all-night debate at seven separate
discussion forums, the protesters reached consensus regarding the
current direction of the civil action, who are mostly united in
their desire to “pursue resistance.”

02:00 GMT: The BBC has announced on Friday that it is
immediately suspending its partnership with Turkish private
broadcaster NTV over censorship. According to a statement
released by the BBC’s Global News Director, Peter Horrocks, the
BBC specifically cites NTV’s decision not to transmit its program
Dunya Gundemi.

"Any interference in BBC
broadcasting is totally unacceptable and at a time of
considerable international concern about the situation in Turkey,
the BBC's impartial service to audiences is vital,” said
Horrocks.

The BBC has further detailed prior contact with NTV over its
censored coverage of the ongoing protests in Istanbul and
throughout Turkey. According to Horrocks on June 6 the BBC had
"sought and received assurances
from NTV that BBC programming would continue to be broadcast in
full and without interference.”

The partnership between the BBC and NTV previously included three
weekly editions of the Dunya Gundemi program, which has aired
since 2008, as well as other content.

Saturday, June 15

22:05 GMT: Turkish police have fired tear gas
indiscriminately into a crowd of protesters in Ankara. They also
fired water cannons into what was, according to witness accounts,
a peaceful group of demonstrators. There are reports that 28
people have been detained.

20:25 GMT:The mayor of Ankara has put up a banner
that reads "Police, Ankara is proud of you," allegedly in a place
where a policeman had killed a protester.

21:00 GMT: A Russian journalist working for the Novaya
Gazeta newspaper has been beaten and detained by suspected
Turkish intelligence services, as he was taking pictures of empty
police cars on Taksim Square, the newspaper reports.

According to Arkady Babchenko’s words, he was approached by
several men in plain clothes ordering him to stop shooting. They
then forcefully dragged him away to an alleyway, where he was
beaten.

Babchenko was then taken to a hospital, still accompanied by the
men, whom he suspects to be members of Turkey’s special services.
They accuse him of 'assaulting officers of the law'.

The journalist is currently being held at a police station, with
a member of the Russian Consulate in Istanbul on the way.

17:53 GMT: The EU has praised the Turkish government’s
commitment to suspend their redevelopment plans for Gezi Park as
a result of late night talks with the representatives of the
Taskim square protesters.
“We welcome the number of constructive and positive signals
coming from Turkey over the past 24 hours,” Peter Stano, the
spokesman for EU Commissioner Stefen Füle, said.

Stano also stressed the importance of investigations into the
disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters by
Turkish law enforcement officers.
16:00 GMT: The Turkish Health Ministry has launched an
investigation into an Istanbul Chambers of Medicine health center
in Gezi Park. The Health Ministry’s Inspection Services
Department’s requested details on their reasons for organizing
health teams and the names of personnel. The Health Ministry said
that “the ministry’s ambulances and medical teams were already
at Taksim Square,” according to Hurriyet. The Turkish
Doctors’ Union (TTB) has said that helping the wounded is their
main duty.

15:15 GMT: A 26 year old man has died as a result of protests
in Ankara, Turkey, his brother told Reuters. Ethem Sarisuluk died
on Friday after sustaining a head trauma and being held in
intensive care for 10 days, according to the Turkish Medical
Association. The body has been taken for forensic examination for
an autopsy, the brother added.

Today is likely the last day of Istanbul protests. And
business as usual in Taksim, only several communist flags and
many riot police.

14:27 GMT: During a meeting with his AK Party, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, has addressed the protesters, saying that the government
has heard their message.

"You have stayed here as long as you could and have relayed
your message. If your message is about Taksim Gezi Park, it has
been received and evaluated," Erdogan is cited as saying by
Reuters. "Please, now leave the Gezi Park and go to your
homes."

03:00 GMT: PM Erdogan and the Taksim Solidarity group
(including several protesters) have reached an agreement during a
meeting late Thursday, that Gezi Park will stay untouched and the
matter will be passed onto a court, which in turn will decide the
park's fate. Early Friday morning, the protesters shared their
positive view of the developments:

"The prime minister said that if the results of the public
vote turned out in a way which would leave this area as a park,
they will abide by it," a member of Taksim Solidarity told
reporters after the meeting.

"His comments that the project will not be executed until the
judiciary makes its decision, is tonight's positive result."

00:40 GMT: Police in Ankara has aggressively begun
dispersing protesters during a meeting between the prime minister
and a delegation representing the Gezi Park protesters. While the
meeting was in progress, a crowd of 200 demonstrators started
blocking traffic at Kennedy Avenue, next to the US embassy. This
resulted in some protesters making away on foot onto the nearby
side-streets. Police have allegedly arrested five of them.

The chaos was less marked compared to previous days, due to heavy
rains and a smaller crowd.

Friday, June 14

23:00 GMT: Taksim Square lit up with dozens of candles as
protesters and passers-by held a candlelight vigil for the
victims of the protests, with placards and pictures commemorating
them.

22:36 GMT: Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu has put
out an invitation to meet with any individuals or groups
belonging to the protester camp, non-formally. He put out a
Twitter message, telling people he would be sitting in a cafe
just off Taksim, for "those who want to meet face to face,
group by group ... until the morning if necessary."

18.14 GMT: Erdogan is scheduled to meet with
representatives of the protest movement on Thursday night in a
last-ditch attempt to stave off a violent showdown.

12:15 GMT: On Thursday morning police arrested 42 people
Istanbul who were wearing masks and helmets while peacefully
walking around the park.

11:45 GMT: The death toll in bloody protests across Turkey
has reached five after 26-year-old Ethem Sarisuluk was pronounced
dead after 12 days on life support. Over 5,000 people have
sustained injuries.

09:30 GMT: Turkey’s PM Tayyip Recep Erdogan has issued
what he called a “final warning” for protesters, saying they will be
removed from Istanbul’s Taksim Square. The Interior Ministry has
ordered a probe into excessive use of force by police following
the EU Parliaments condemnation of violence, and calls for an
investigation.

08:17 GMT: Turkey’s private channels including Halk TV,
Ulusal TV, Cem TV and EM TV have been fined over their live
coverage of the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul. The Radio and
Television Supreme Council ruled that the broadcasts were
"harming the physical, moral and mental development of children
and young people."

00:42 GMT: Hundreds of protesters chanted and sang in
Istanbul's Taksim Square early on Thursday, defying an order to
end almost two weeks of protests against Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan.

Thursday, June 13

19:41 GMT: Turkey’s Ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Celik has said a referendum
might be held to decide whether to build barracks in Gezi Park or
leave it as it is.

19:36 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister has met a group of 11
people to discuss Gezi Park protests as part of the government’s
attempt to listen to the demands of the demonstrators. The
participants included artists, academics and students as well as
Interior Minister, Environment and Urban Minister, Tourism and
Culture Minister and the vice chair of the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP). Prime Minister Erdoğan has warned that
he would put an end to the gatherings, which he said were hurting
Turkey’s image and economy.

11:15 GMT: Turkish President Abdullah Gül has called for
dialogue with legitimate demonstrators against the redevelopment
of an Istanbul park, but noted that those who had taken to the
streets in violent protests were a different matter.

"If people have objections ... then to engage in a dialogue
with these people, to hear out what they say is no doubt our
duty," Gül told reporters. "Those who employ violence are
something different and we have to distinguish them ... We must
not give violence a chance ... This would not be allowed in New
York, this would not be allowed in Berlin."

08:10 GMT: The Radio and Television Supreme Council fined
four Turkish TV channels for 24-hour live coverage of the Gezi
Park protests in Istanbul, arguing that the broadcast was
"harming the physical, moral and mental development of
children and young people." Channels fined included: Halk TV,
Ulusal TV, Cem TV and EM TV.

Wednesday, June 12

23:40 GMT: The White House has expressed its concern over
Turkey’s ways of resolving the protesters’ grievances and the
government’s general handling of the situation.

White House spokesman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement: "We
continue to follow events in Turkey with concern, and our
interest remains supporting freedom of expression and assembly,
including the right to peaceful protest."

"We believe that Turkey's long-term stability, security, and
prosperity is best guaranteed by upholding the fundamental
freedoms of expression, assembly, association, and a free and
independent media. Turkey is a close friend and ally of the
United States, and we expect the Turkish authorities to uphold
these fundamental freedoms," she added.

21:30
GMT: RT Spanish corespondent Aleksandra Bondarenko got struck
by tear gas as she was reporting live from Taksim.

19:28
GMT: As clashes continue at Taksim Square, Istanbul
Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu has said police will continue
operations in Taksim Square, day and night, until it is cleared,
Reuters reported.

"We will continue our measures in an unremitting manner,
whether day or night, until marginal elements are cleared and the
square is open to the people," he said in a televised
announcement.

17:35 GMT: Police use tear gas against thousands of
protesters in Taksim as crowds returned to the square in the
evening. Earlier on Tuesday, police and protesters clashes over a
new barrier inside the square.

14:33 GMT: The police on Tuesday started to
“intervene” and tear gas Gezi Park protesters, despite an
earlier pledge that they would not target the park itself, Occupy
Gezi protester Deniz Can Akkaya told RT.

There were reports from the protesters in the park that the
police started using rubber bullets, he said.

Can Akkaya also cited “rumors” that the SDP party
protesters who threw Molotov cocktail at the riot police were in
fact “undercover policemen.” The Governor of Istanbul has
strongly denied such claims, he said. Some 50 members of the SDP
have then been arrested in the party’s headquarters.

The level of violence employed by the police against the
protesters “seems not to be decreasing,” Can Akkaya
argued.

But the prime ministers’ Wednesday meeting with the Gezi Park
movement representatives could become a “turning point” of
the protests, he said.

13:44 GMT: One protester in Taksim Square was reportedly
killed by a tear gas canister, said Carroll Bogert of Human
Rights Watch, citing the first-aid tent in Gezi Park. Occupy Gezi
protester Deniz Can Akkaya also told RT one death was reported by
his fellow protesters in the park.

11:10 GMT: Some 30 to 50 lawyers protesting against the
handling of the protest have reportedly been detained in front of a courtroom in
Istanbul. Around 100 lawyers are waiting in front of the
police station demanding the release of their colleagues.

10:34 GMT: Erdogan says the government will have “no more tolerance” for illegal protests.

09:25 GMT: Erdogan’s speech went harsher later, as he went
on to criticize the violent aspects of the ongoing protest. He
claimed that 95 per cent of the people in Taksim Square were not
even aware of the location of the Gezi Park before the protest
started. He also lashed out at social media over what he called
the spreading of lies and misinforming international media on the
nature of the conflict.

09:10 GMT: Speaking to his ruling AKP party in
parliament on Tuesday following the raid on Taksim Square,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for national
unity. The conciliatory tone of the speech contrasted the sharp
criticism of the protesters and the hardline stance that the
Turkish leader demonstrated in the earlier days of the protest.

07:40 GMT: On Tuesday morning hundreds of police have taken over Taksim Square, using tear gas and
water cannons to oust the few protesters present at the time.
Police said they want to clean the area of rubble and graffiti
left by the protest rallies. Over the subsequent hours police
clashed with activists both at the square’s perimeter and in the
surrounding streets. Protesters tossed Molotov cocktails at the
security troops, briefly setting one of the water cannon trucks
on fire. Meanwhile police started dismantling barricades erected
in the square over the days of the protest.

Tuesday, June 11

18:48 GMT: A criminal complaint about senior Turkish
police and government authorities, including Prime Minister
Erdogan, was filed by the Consumer Rights Association of Turkey
(THD) for using tear gas against protesters. THD said the tear
gas bombs threatened the lives of tens of thousands of people,
including those staying in nearby houses, and have been a direct
cause of at least one death in Ankara.

Another complaint was filed separately by the Ankara Bar
Association about persons inside a car that allegedly drove into
demonstrators on June 2. Witnesses noted that before driving into
the crowd at fast speed, the car somehow managed to pass the
police barricades, surrounding the area at the time. As a result
of the incident, one person is said to be in a life-threatening
condition, and two others injured.

18:00 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan will on
Wednesday meet with the Gezi Park platform leaders, who organized
the original sit-in to save the Istanbul park that turned into
mass nationwide protests.

“They asked to meet the prime minister and he agreed to meet
with the organizers,” Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said
on Monday, as quoted by Reuters.

The negotiations will be aimed at trying to halt the protests, he
added.

12:40 GMT: A lone activist is seen standing in front of
the Turkish Embassy in Moscow, demonstrating in support of the
Turkish protesters.

Sunday, June 9

Istanbul’s Taksim Square saw more than 100,000 demonstrators
gather on Sunday – the biggest crowd since mass protests began in
Turkey 11 days ago, RT’s Irina Galushko reported. Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan has made a string of public appearances,
giving defiant speeches to supporters in several cities across
Turkey.

At Ankara airport, Erdogan warned protesters his patience “has
limits,” and called on the cheering crowds to stage
pro-government mass rallies next weekend. A few kilometers away
in downtown Ankara, thousands of demonstrators were dispersed by
riot police who fired teargas and water cannons, as the Turkish
capital braces for another night of protests.

18:47 GMT: Riot police used water cannons and tear gas to
disperse thousands of anti-government protesters in central
Ankara, Reuters reports. The police advanced just as the Prime
Minister was addressing a rally of his supporters a few
kilometers away.

At least two people were injured in the clashes in downtown
Kizilay square, an AFP photographer saw.

18:45 GMT: PM Erdogan called on his supporters to prepare
for pro-government rallies next weekend in Istanbul and Ankara.

"On Saturday, are you ready for a big Ankara meeting? ... The
next day we will have the Istanbul meeting," Erdogan said to
cheering crowds in the capital.

17:45 GMT: In Germany, protesters march in Berlin's
Kreuzberg district in support of the Turkish anti-government
demonstrators.

16:20 GMT:“We have been patient, but there is an end
to our patience,” Prime Minister Erdogan warned, as
he addressed the supporters of his ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) in Ankara airport.

More than 600 police officers have been injured in the riots, he
added.

14:44 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has arrived in
Ankara, and is speaking to supporters at the airport.
Preparations for a pro-Erdogan mass rally in Ankara began Sunday
morning.

Erdogan calls protestors "capulcu" (vandals) again. Seem to be
a lot more in Taksim today than Erdogan supporters at Ankara
airport

11:43 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan on Sunday urged
supporters of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to
“teach a lesson” to the anti-government demonstrators at
the next local election.

“There are just seven months left until the local elections. I
want you to teach them a first lesson through democratic means at
the ballot box,” Erdogan told a crowd of cheering loyalists
in the southern Turkish city of Adana.

09:51 GMT: Six policemen have committed suicide since the
Gezi Park protests started, Hurriyet daily reported, quoting
Faruk Sezer, the head of the Emniyet-Sen police union. Sezer
admitted that the police force has come under fierce criticism
over how they handled the protests – but also said they had been
forced to work under severe conditions.

“The violence you see at the end is the reflection of the
violence suffered by the policemen. They are not just subjected
to violence by protesters, but by 120-hour consecutive working
periods, stale bread and food," Sezer said. He claimed that
staffers drafted from other cities had to sleep on benches,
shields or cardboard because state authorities did not provide
accommodations.

Saturday, June 8

At the close of Turkey’s ninth day of social unrest, thousands of
activists defied Prime Minister Erdogan’s call to stop protests
immediately. Around 10,000 protesters gathered in downtown Ankara
where their demonstration was cut short by "a sudden and
unexpected intervention” by Turkish police. Reports say officers
began to arrest youths at random and used tear gas and water
cannons to disperse the masses.

The dramatic scenes in Ankara were contrasted by Turkish
government rhetoric which stated that the protests were being
“normalized” and were “under control.”
Parliamentary spokesperson, Cemil Cicek told press following a
leading party meeting that the government was ready to listen to
“reasonable, legal and democratic demands.”

Meanwhile, the sit-in protest in Taksim Square in Istanbul was
undisturbed by police who kept their distance from the peaceful
demonstrators.

15:58 GMT: Istanbul's mayor declared that Gezi Park would
not be used as a venue to build a shopping mall, but the project
to create a replica of Ottoman-era military barracks there would
continue.

"We are definitely not thinking of building a shopping mall
there, no hotel or residence either. It can be... a city museum
or an exhibition center," Istanbul mayor Kadir Topbas said as
quoted by AFP. "The plan for the barracks was part of our
election promises, the people gave us the authority to do it."

Topbas however added that the final plans would be made "through
dialogue" and "the number of trees can be increased."

15:44 GMT: PM Erdogan's Justice and Development Party says
there is no question of calling early elections after a week of
the most violent protests in decades.

"Local elections will be held in March 2014, presidential
elections in August 2014, and general elections in June 2015, and
a change in the schedule is out of the question," said Deputy
Chairman Huseyin Celik after meeting the party's executive
committee.

13:35 GMT: Rumors on Twitter that police are planning a
raid on protesters in Gezi Park may be a provocation, Istanbul
Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu said, urging calm. “The claims
since yesterday that an intervention is being prepared for Taksim
Gezi Park could be claims from people who are trying to provoke
violence. Be careful,” he wrote today on his Twitter account,
as cited by Turkish Hurriyet daily.

13:30 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and
parliamentary Speaker Cemil Cicek will hold an emergency meeting
later on Saturday to discuss the mass protests across the
country, Hurriyet daily reports.

11:25 GMT: The “excessive” use of force by police against
protesters is currently being investigated, Multu Alkan, a senior
member of the ruling party and a close associate of PM Erdogan
told Itar-Tass. She admitted than on May 31,
protesters were forced to defend themselves against police.

People who gathered in Gezi Park “were really concerned”
about environmental protection, which is their democratic right,
she said. However, law enforcers dispersed the rally using
“disproportionate” force, which worsened tensions and resulted in
wider protests, Alkan explained.

In her view, “it was a mistake” that the ruling party and
the government have so far failed to explain to the population
what specific changes are planned for Taksim Squar and Gezi Park
for the development project. “No trees will be cut down. On
the contrary, new ones will be planted,” the official stated,
adding that Justice and Development Party is ready to listen to
protesters’ proposals as long as they are in line with the law.

09:37 GMT: As anti-government protests in Turkey enter
their ninth consecutive day, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is to
convene a party leadership meeting.

08:50 GMT: Thousands of activists are continuing their
occupation of Istanbul’s Taksim Square in protest against a
construction project that would see parts of the park demolished.
Istanbul residents carried food and blankets to Taksim Square,
the epicenter of the protests.

"A week ago, I could never imagine myself sleeping out on the
streets of Istanbul. Now I don't know how I can ever go
back," Aleyna, a 22-year old protester said, according to
AFP.

The capital Ankara is expected to see more protests over the
weekend.

08:00 GMT: Clashes broke out between police and protesters
overnight in Istanbul’s Gazi suburb. Police reportedly used
teargas and water cannons against a group of 5,000 protesters who
had mounted barricades on the road. The protesters retaliated
with fireworks and slingshots.

Friday, June 7

Thousands of activists gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square as
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan returned to Turkey from North
Africa. Many of the protesters, who barricaded themselves in the
center of the square that has become a symbol of the unrest,
demanded the resignation of the Turkish leader. For his part,
Erdogan has announced an uncompromising policy towards protesters
whom he has denounced as “extremists and vandals.” He also
defended the use of force to suppress anti-government activists
as justifiable given that other EU countries and the US employed
similar tactics to control protests.

"Similar protests have taken place in Britain, France, Germany
and bigger ones in Greece," he said, accusing the EU of
double standards.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has urged Turkey to
launch a probe into reports of police brutality during the recent
protests. He appealed for a “swift and transparent investigation”
that would bring those responsible to justice.

"Excessive use of force by police against these demonstrations
has no place in such a democracy,” said Fuele.

Thursday, June 6

22:39 GMT: American trend forecaster Gerald Celente, who
works as a business consultant and publishes the Trends Journal,
told RT the Turkish youth are upset over Prime Minister’s Erdogan
decision to illegally seek a fourth term in office, along with
his ignoring the public’s interest in keeping the park free of
development.

“They are saying they’re having things forced on them without
a say in matters,” Celente said. “By the way this
goes on in every country. You could talk about police brutality –
name your place. I remember what happened here in the States with
the G20 meetings in Pittsburgh or the battle in Seattle or what
went on in Nottingham in the UK a few years ago. Police brutality
is nothing new but I think there’s more of an undercurrent."

“I think you’re going to see a crackdown on the demonstrators.
He’s already made it clear there won’t be any compromising, that
the so-called shopping mall and the barracks are going up and
that he still regards these people as terrorists.”

22:27 GMT: Turkish ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) has been sending out short messages inviting people
to show popular support and come to the airport to meet PM
Erdogan.

17:27 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has
postponed his speech until tomorrow. He was initially expected to
deliver his address amid raging protests in Istanbul and across
the country.

13:40 GMT: A Turkish police officer has been pronounced dead after falling from a 5-meter-high
bridge while pursuing protesters in the country's southern Adana
Province. Three protesters have also died to date.

13:30 GMT: Turkish authorities released 33 Twitter users
arrested in Izmir on Wednesday for allegedly tweeting false
reports amid anti-government demonstrations, Al Jazeera reports.
The release came a few hours ahead of Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s return from an overseas trip.
12:41 GMT: Turkey’s PM has vowed that development of Taksim
Square will go ahead, despite ongoing protests. Tayyip Erdogan
made the remark in Tunisia, and is due to return to Turkey today.

08:17 GMT: A second trade union federation representing
hundreds of thousands of workers, including teachers, doctors and
bank staff, joined the protests on Wednesday. Members marched on
Taksim Square in Istanbul, banging drums, chanting slogans like
“Tayyip resign” and waving flags and banners. More pictures
from the protests here.

Wednesday, June 5

23:59 GMT: On the sixth day of unrest in Turkey, activist
Ethem Sarısülük died from head wounds sustained during clashes in
the capital city Ankara, making it the third death to date.
Earlier in the day, activists presented a list of demands to end
the ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

Over the course of the day Wednesday, the Turkish authorities
continued targeting social media, detaining at least 25 individuals and
accusing them of using Twitter to “instigate public hatred and
animosity.” Government networks were hacked in support of protesters by Anonymous
hacktivists and the Syrian Electronic Army.

19:40 GMT: Turkish President Abdullah Gül has indicated
that a bill intended to restrict alcohol consumption and sales in
Turkey might not be approved. The controversial legislation has
widely been seen as one of the triggers for the ongoing protests
in Turkey, where protesters have often cited the country’s lack
of respect for lifestyles that fall outside of conservative
ruling party’s own definition of Turkish identity.

15:28 GMT: A third protester, Ethem Sarısülük, died from
head wounds sustained during clashes in the capital city Ankara
that sprang from the Taksim Gezi Park protests, a representative
of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) said. Earlier, two
people died in related clashes: 22-year-old Abdullah Comert, a
branch member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was killed
in Antakya on June 3, and 20-year-old Mehmet Ayvalıtas was hit
and killed by a car that plowed into protesters on June 2.

11:05 GMT: Activists have presented a list of demands to
end the ongoing anti-government demonstrations. Protesters are
demanding the government halt redevelopment plans for Istanbul’s
Taksim Square that would uproot trees in Gezi Park. They are also
calling for a ban on the use of teargas by police, the immediate
release of all detained protesters, and the lifting of
restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. Their final
demand is that officials responsible for the violent crackdown be
removed from office, including governors and senior police
officials.

2:14 GMT: Nurettin Yigit Gultekin, a Turkish activist and
also one of the many individuals who has been at the receiving
end of tear gas deployed by police, spoke with RT regarding the
use of gas as well as water cannons against demonstrators.

"They want to create fear, and anxiety over the nation.
Personally I can say that Turkish media, who remain silent over
the use of excessive force by police forces," says Gultekin.

"It reduced my vision... and since I have asthma, during the
events I have had multiple, severe asthma attacks. And I can say
that the main provokers are the police and the government,"
he added.

In response to Prime Minister Erdogan calling the protesters
"looters" and "extremists," Gultekin dismissed the claims and
said that protests are only peaceful.

"Well, for this event, for this wonderful event, people from
different backgrounds are coming together, and this is something
really important and new for our nation. To call us looters and
extremists he has to prove it with evidence," says Gultekin.

"This matter has become more than just about saving a bunch of
trees... they cannot scare us, we are the people, we are the
nation, we are Turkey. They cannot change that, they know that.
This is a peaceful event, we do not do any harm to anyone, or
anything." Gultekin added that, as a protester, he expected
the Turkish government to offer an apology, and to grant the
country its freedom of speech.

1:03 GMT: Three tech-savvy Turkish professionals have
successfully bypassed the funding goal on their project to
publish a full-age, front section advertisement in The New York
Times in support of the ongoing protests in that country.

The online fundraiser quickly surpassed the $30,00 threshold,
with $2,500 per hour in donations logged in the project’s first
day, surpassing $85,000 just 36 hours after launching.

The three men, entrepreneur and investor Murat Aktihanoglu, angel
investor and World Bank advisor Oltac Unsal and UI designer Duygu
Atacan, were moved to action after what they perceived as a
heavy-handed police response to demonstrators, and a dearth of
news coverage by the country’s press.

Tuesday, June 4

23:58 GMT: Sixteen individuals are said to be in police
custody awaiting charges of “inciting” others to participate in
the ongoing protests via Twitter following police raids on
thirty-eight residences, according to Turkish daily
Radikal.

22:34 GMT: A company based out of California, AnchorFree,
announced that over the weekend installs of its VPN software from
users in Turkey increased by 1,000 per cent. VPNs allow online
users to avoid filtering systems imposed by governments, and the
serious uptick in downloads of the software coincided with what
was so far the peak in demonstrations throughout that country.
The surge seems to indicate increasing concerns that Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government will try to curtail
online freedoms.

Such concerns are likely based on the government’s 2011
introduction of an already existing filtering system, but more
recently the PM’s reference to social media as "the worst menace
to society.” While many in Turkey have accused domestic media of
censoring their coverage of the ongoing unrest, social media have
been flooded with eye-witness accounts, as well as video and
images from protest sites.

13:35 GMT: Hundreds of protesters start flocking back to
the Taksim Square in Istanbul.

13:14 GMT: Turkish demonstrators have restrained a man who
tried to attack a police van during a protest held in front of
the prime minister's office in central Ankara, AFP reported.

12:27 GMT: The UN human rights office voiced concerns on
Tuesday about the excessive police force used against Turkish
protestors, and urged the country’s government to bring the
“perpetrators” to justice. Turkey must conduct a
“prompt, thorough, independent and impartial”
investigation, said Cecile Pouilly, spokesperson for the UN high
commissioner for human rights.

“We welcome the acknowledgment on the part of the authorities
that disproportionate force may have been used, and their call
for an investigation of law enforcement officers who are alleged
to have broken the law and violated international human rights
standards,” Pouilly said.

She also stressed that those injured in the clashes must be given
timely medical care, and that those arrested should be treated
lawfully.

11:51 GMT: On Tuesday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
Bulent Arinc apologized to demonstrators wounded in the violent
clashes, and said he would meet with the organizers of the
original sit-in to save the Istanbul park.

“I apologize to those who were subject to violence because of
their sensitivity for the environment,” Arinc said, adding
that the police are now restricted to using tear gas only in
cases of self-defense, and that they were wrong to use it on
peaceful protesters.

“There is a need to clearly communicate to remove
confusion in people’s minds. In line with this, today we will
meet with the associations and representatives of those who
opened the lawsuit... to learn their views,” Arinc said.

Arinc went on to praise the initial public protest against the
park demolition as “legitimate and patriotic,” but urged
the protesters not to be agitated by “marginal and illegal
groups.” The government expects “all unions, political
parties and everyone who loves and cares about Turkey” to end
the demonstrations immediately, he added.

08:40 GMT: People across the world are rallying to support
Turkish protesters and demand that Ankara stop its crackdown.
Solidarity actions were held in Canada, Greece, Germany, the
Netherlands, the UK and the US, among other countries. See
RT’s galleries for more.

03:02 GMT: The ongoing unrest in Turkey has sparked
Internet hacking attacks as well, with at least four Turkish
government websites targeted in what activists have dubbed
‘#OpTurkey.’
A Syrian hacker identified as ‘Security Dr@Gon’ defaced 34
Turkis-hosted websites, four of which are governmental, with
messages supporting the protesters. One of the hacked government
websites was that of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, while the
other three were run by tourism and environmental development
authorities..

02:55 GMT: Turkey’s leftist Public Workers Unions
Confederation (KESK), which represents 240,000 members, begins a
two-day “warning strike” midday Tuesday (0900 GMT) to protest the
government’s heavy-handed response to the Taksim Gezi Park
protests. The move could see hundreds of thousands of public
servants walk off the job to call for a “democratic Turkey”
rather than raise concerns over legal changes, KESK General
Secretary Ismail Hakkı Tombul said. Later on Tuesday, KESK will
further discuss the strikes with representatives from the
Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), the Turkish
Medical Association (TTB), the Turkish Engineers Association and
the Turkish Architects Association.

02:21 GMT: Some demonstrators turned their anger on
Turkish media on Monday, following criticism that the country’s
domestic media have been censoring police brutality during mass
protests. Several hundred protesters gathered outside of the
headquarters of Turkish television channel NTV, bearing signs
with messages such as “media for sale” and “how much did you sell
your honesty for?” according to a report by euronews.

01:12 GMT: Amnesty International and other international
groups criticized Turkey's police response as excessive on
Monday, with widespread reports of physical confrontations with
demonstrators. Residents of Istanbul set up make-shift hospitals
in the district of Besiktas to deal with the wounded.

Monday, June 3

22:45 GMT: The Union of Turkish Doctors confirmed the
death of 22-year-old Abdullah Cömert in the city of Antakya
in the province of Hatay, near Turkey’s border with Syria. The
death would mark the second to be confirmed since protests flared
up on Friday in Istanbul and across Turkey. According to
news reports Cömert died of injuries sustained after being shot
by unidentified gunmen, though many users via social media were
placing the blame on local police forces.

22: 39 GMT: Istanbul's stock exchange suffered its biggest
one-day loss in a decade due to investor concern as protests
appeared headed into their fifth day. The market closed 10.5 per
cent lower on Monday, according to CNBC.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange National 100 Index has more than
quadrupled in value since late 2008, though analysts worry that
prolonged political unrest could harm Turkey’s tourism as well as
foreign capital investment, both of which are key to the
country’s economy.

19:03 GMT: Speaking in Morocco where the Turkish PM is on
his visit, Erdogan said the situation in his country is "now
calming down," despite the fourth day of violent protests against
his rule.

18:43 GMT: Hundreds of Greek leftists, nearly a thousand,
marched in support of Turkish protesters. "From Taksim Square to
Athens, we fight poverty and hunger," they chanted referring to
Istanbul's main square.

18:19 GMT: The US has expressed concern about reports of
excessive use of force by Turkish police. “We obviously hope that
there will be a full investigation of those incidents and full
restraint from the police force," Reuters cited US secretary of
state John Kerry as saying.

Speaking at the daily briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney
said the US believes that “the vast majority of the protesters
have been peaceful, law-abiding citizens exercising their
rights.” Carney also called on “all sides to refrain from
provoking violence.”

18:03 GMT: Ankara police started a crackdown at noon,
using tear gas and water cannon against protesters.

17: 42 GMT: Police intervened with tear gas and water
cannon in the city of Ankara, where protesters gathered to show
support with the Taksim Gezi Park demonstration. Around 300
students were shouting slogans and marching toward the Prime
Ministry complex after staging a sit-in. Protesters continued to
return to Kızılay Square after being repeatedly dispersed by
police through the side streets. To resist against a possible
police intervention protesters have built a barricade with two
municipality buses and a construction truck on the Kolej
crossroad.

16:13 GMT: Hundreds of protesters flock back to the Taksim
Square in Istanbul, colorful banners and flags in their
hands.

13:00 GMT: A 20-year-old man died when a taxi drove into a
group of demonstrators on an Istanbul highway, Turkish doctors'
association TBB said on Monday. Four other protesters were
injured in the incident, one of them seriously. According to AFP,
the incident took place back on Sunday and a police car was
involved.

12:20 GMT: The Confederation of Public Workers' Unions
(KESK), one of Turkey’s four major labor unions, says it will
launch a strike on Tuesday. The ‘warning strike’ in response to
what the union called ‘state terror’ against anti-government
protests is to last for two days. The KESK counts some 240,000
members in its ranks.

11:40 GMT: Ankara police have arrested at least 1,500
protesters, according to opposition Republican People’s Party
member Aylin Nazlıaka. She says many of the detainees were forced
to sign testimony, denied access to lawyers and had their mobile
phones seized. The Interior Ministry reported holding 500 people
in custody in the capital.

11:10 GMT: Turkish police are using tear gas against the
opposition in Ankara, a Reuters witness said. The law enforcers
were targeting a groups of some 1,000 protesters, most of them
young people, as they were advancing towards the capital’s
Kizilay Square demanding the resignation of PM Erdogan. The
violent confrontation is now in its fourth successive day.

Hundreds of people are demonstrating outside NTV network to
protest scant media coverage of protests.

08:25 GMT: Erdogan says Turkish people must not be
provoked by the protest organized by extremist forces and claims
that the latest riots have nothing to do with the Gezi Park
sit-ins.

07:05 GMT: Prime Minister Erdogan is to leave Turkey on a
four-day visit to North Africa. He is expected to speak at the
Istanbul airport – his fifth address in the last two days –
before flying out of the country.

01:47 GMT: Amid the ongoing anti-government protests in
Turkey, Washington has called on all parties to “calm the
situation.” The White House in particular urged security
forces to “exercise restraint.” In a statement released on
Sunday, spokeswoman Laura Lucas said the US believes peaceful
public demonstrations "are a part of democratic
expression."

Sunday, June 2

23:18 GMT: As of noon GMT (16:00 Moscow Time), a crowd of
several dozen supporters of anti-government protests in Turkey
have staged a rally in Moscow’s Gorky Park – the capital’s famous
central leisure destination. The people were holding up banners
in Turkish and English saying things like ‘Istanbul is not
alone’, and waving Turkish flags.

19:38 GMT: Decrying the reaction of Turkish authorities to
the ongoing protests as those of a “petty dictator,”
Anonymous vows to kick off a worldwide action which will
“bring the Turkish government to its knees.” With
#opTurkey, the hacktivist collective plans to “attack
every Internet and communications asset of the Turkish
government.”

19:05 GMT:“Clashes in Besiktas slowed down but hard to
breathe because of tear gas. One bad news: Thousands from Taksim
heading to that area,” Mahir Zeynalov, a journalist for the
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman wrote from the scene via Twitter.
Zeynalov said protesters are chanting at police: "We have gone
crazy, come and gas us!"

18:42 GMT:

Hundreds from Taksim are heading to Besiktas, where police
and protesters clash.

18:37 GMT: Basak, a computer engineer from Istanbul, told
RT that what began as a peaceful protest has turned ugly because
of the way the police behaved.

“These protesters are just young people and it is their first
protest, it is my first protest. We have learnt not to go out
without masks and goggles. Everybody is angry in Turkey at the
way the police are treating their own people,” she said.
Basak explained that the police were using the tear gas canisters
like bullets firing them directly at people and “six people
are blind as a result.”

18:28 GMT: The “so-called pro-Islamic people” who
support the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are
in fact in the minority, while the majority are actually against
his government because of its domestic and foreign policies,
Sinan Tolun, a former journalist at the EBA Economic Press
Agency, told RT. Tolun mentions how recent efforts to
“implement prohibition” in Turkey reflect the government’s
desire to set up an Islamic state in Turkey.

“Turkey was founded by Ataturk, and this government is
betraying Ataturk’s legacy. They are especially struggling
against the secularism of Turkey…Turkey is [constitutionally] a
secular state. We are not happy about it,” Tolun argues.

Internationally, Tolun says that that before Erdogan assumed
office, Turkey never interfered in the internal affairs of
neighboring countries like Syria. He believes that Erdogan's
policies are "mainly serving US interests, not Turkish
interests."

18:10 GMT: Police deploy "excessive amounts" of
teargas on Kizilay Square in the Turkish capital of Ankara
to break up an anti-government demonstration.

18:05 GMT: In Istanbul, thousands of protesters are
still surrounding the Prime Minster's Office. While the situation
on Sunday night was largely peaceful, Orchun Sunear, a musician,
told RT that he had seen a lot of people being seriously hurt by
police, and even witnessed people being crushed by a police tank.
A friend of his named Lednah, also a musician, is in a coma after
being caught up in the crackdown.

“My father, and grandmother have never seen anything like
this, In three generations the police have never behaved like
this. This is not normal in Turkey and I don’t understand why
this is happening,” he said.

18:00 GMT: Clashes have been reported in the Anatolian
city of Izmir and the southern city of Adana – Turkey’s third and
fourth largest cities. Earlier in the day, police fired tear gas
and used water cannons to disperse around 1,000 protesters who
were attempting to march to the prime minister’s office in the
Turkish capital of Ankara. While the atmosphere in Istanbul’s
Taksim Square has mostly been festive throughout the day, clashes
were later reported between police and protesters near the prime
minister’s office in the city.

17:00 GMT: The ongoing protests in Turkey differ from the
Arab Spring in that they don’t fit into “a NATO, Gulf State,
Al-Jazeera led geo-political strategy,” Middle East expert
and journalist Gearoid O’ Colmain told RT.

“Many protesters many want to compare the Taksim protests to
Tahrir. There was a genuine element of popular uprising in Egypt,
and it was at least initially a peaceful uprising. But I think
there is an essential difference here. The protests in Tunisia
and Egypt were given help from the National Endowment for
Democracy, The International Republican Institute, Freedom House
– canvas and regime change organizations. They have admitted that
themselves and we have State Department documents even to prove
that now. The Rand Corporation, for example, were boasting about
their democratization, or what they call democratization in
Egypt,” he argues.

O’Colmain believes that the protests gripping Turkey are much
more significant because they could develop into “a very
genuine uprising.”

“I don't think that there is any regime change agenda here
from external powers like we had for example, in Egypt…I don’t
think it fits into “a NATO, Gulf State, Al-Jazeera led
geo-political strategy like we had for example in
Egypt.”

Watch Gearoid O’ Colmain's complete interview with RT

16:54 GMT: A New York rally organized by the Occupy Wall
Street movement in the Zuccotti Park in support of the Turkish
protests has continued into a second day:

16:13 GMT: More than 1,700 people have been detained since
a harsh police crackdown against activists staging a sit-in
protest at Gezi Park near Taksim Square spiraled out of control
on Friday. Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said "a
large majority of the detainees were released after being
questioned and identified," the state-run Anatolia news
agency cites him as saying.

Officials claimed that 53 civilians and 26 police officers had
been hurt in the clashes, though Amnesty International alleges
that hundreds have been wounded and two have been killed.

16:05 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
announced that a mosque, and not a shopping mall will be built in
the Artillery Barracks project intended to replace Taksim Gezi
Park, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reports.

Erdogan added that he did not need permission from the political
opposition or a “few marauders” for such projects, as the
authority had already been granted by the people who voted his
ruling Justice and Development Party into power.

15:10 GMT: Police have fired tear gas and used water
cannons to disperse around 1,000 protesters who were attempting
to march to the prime minister’s office in the Turkish capital of
Ankara, AFP reports.

14:37 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
dismissed charges he is an authoritarian leader on Sunday,
claiming the protests were being driven by an extremist fringe.

"If they call someone who has served the people a 'dictator,'
I have nothing to say," AP cites Erdogan as saying in an
address to a group representing migrants from the Balkans. "My
only concern has been to serve my country."

In another speech delivered the following hour, Erdogan said:
"I am not the master of the people. Dictatorship does not run
in my blood or in my character. I am the servant of the
people."

14:08 GMT: A photograph from Kizilay Square in the Turkish
capital Ankara, where activists allege a protester was shot by
police.

13:35 GMT: The website for Condornaoletal, a producer of
non-lethal weapons which "offer law enforcement officials the
capacity to apply force gradually, reducing the situations in
which the use of firearms is required," has been hacked by
Anonymous. Such large quantities of tear gas were used against
Turkish demonstrators, local media reported that police were
running low on their stocks of the asphyxiating gas.

13:30 GMT:A petition to US President Barack Obama
asking the White House to “Condemn the actions taken against
peaceful protesters in Istanbul Turkey” has already garnered
over 95,000 votes as of June 2nd. In accordance with
the We the People petitioning system on the whitehouse.gov
website, if the petition reaches the 100,000 signature threshold
by June 30th, “it will be reviewed by the
Administration and we will issue a response.”

13:18 GMT: Many protesters can be seen holding up the red
and golden banner for the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) on
Taksim Square.

12:45 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has
said that he will not seek permission from marauders to implement
the plans for Taksim, where the protests were taking place. He
stated to protesters that if their actions stemmed from upset
over lost trees to build a mall in the area, he would like to
remind them that the Turkish government had planted some across
the country, according to local news agency Hurriyet, also
stating "no one had the right to increase tension in Turkey by
using uprooted trees as an excuse," reported Turkish
Weekly. However, he also said the projects were not yet final,
and accused protesters of destroying property, asking
rhetorically if damaging them constituted democracy.

11:00 GMT: Turkish demonstrators continue to gather on
Istanbul's Taksim Square, following withdrawal of heavy police
presence. The crowd could be heard chanting and singing in
unison. They have been saying: "This is our Taksim, this is
our Istanbul," and "we are all soldiers of Mustafa Kemal
[Ataturk]," according to Haaretz.

10:10 GMT: Istanbul has witnessed bouts of vandalism
during the protests.

08:52 GMT: An Ankara resident, who preferred to remain
anonymous, told RT that police have started gathering in the
street as more protests are expected on Sunday afternoon.
Recalling the Saturday clashes, she described police actions as
“horrible,” saying that officers were shooting at people, without
caring if they were women, children or the elderly. Cafes and
some other public places were used as hospital and medical
students volunteered to treat the injured. She also said that one
person was killed Saturday after being targeted by water
cannon.

07:21 GMT: At least two people were killed in the
demonstrations in Turkey, Amnesty International said on Sunday.
Over 1,000 protestors were injured. Most of them were hurt near
Taksim Square in Istanbul, the focal point of the recent
protest.

03:08 GMT: With Istanbul and Ankara gripped by a third day
of anti-government demonstrations, protests have also spread to
the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus.

As Melis Tutan, a Cyprus-based journalist reports, Turkish
students started gathering on Saturday to protest the events in
Istanbul and express their grievances over the policies of the
Erdogan government and what they describe as police terror.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Nicosia, Kyrenia,
Famagusta and Morphou, Tutan told RT. “Many civil
organizations and students walked together towards the Turkish
Embassy in Nicosia. At the beginning police tried to stop them,
but then they were allowed to chant slogans.”

Saturday, June 1

21:27 GMT: This June 1 Ankara witness video allegedly
shows a protester being run over by a police vehicle, as the
surrounding crowd quickly rushes toward the scene.

21:19 GMT: Photo shows protesters taking care of an
injured demonstrator during a rally in support of protests in
Istanbul and against the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in
Ankara, on June 1.

20:46 GMT: Triumph and jubilation as the Taksim Square
crowd celebrates the retreat of riot police on Saturday. The
epicenter of protests had earlier been marked by fierce clashes
with police and dozens of injured. But the mood has bounced back
and the Turkish are now ecstatic - singing, dancing and drinking.

19:43 GMT: Twitter users say police have used tear gas
against the protesters in Beşiktaş, an Istanbul municipality
located on the European shore of the Bosphorus.

Protesters claim the clashes erupted after the police deployed
armored cars and started firing gas at a peaceful demonstration,
arresting both ralliers and passersby.

19:14 GMT: More than 90 demonstrations took place in 48
provinces of Turkey over two days, and 939 people have been
detained across the country as part of “necessary security
measures,” Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Güler said.

17:34 GMT: Solidarity protests are being staged or planned
across Europe and the US, with people in cities including Boston,
London, Berlin, Athens, Nicosia and Helsinki rallying against the
violence in Turkey.

16:41 GMT: In New York City’s Zuccotti Park, hundreds of
Occupy movement supporters are gathering for a solidarity
demonstration. The protesters say they will march about 3 miles
to the Turkish Consulate.

I'd put the crowd at Zuccotti for #occupygezi at
about 600-700 so far; lots of chants in Turkish, high energy.
Lots of smiles. #fb

16:36 GMT: Protesters in Egypt will gather for Taksim
solidarity protest at 7 pm local time tomorrow in front of the
Turkish Embassy, Cairo, RT’s Bel Trew reports.

16:17 GMT: Human Rights Watch urged Erdogan’s government
to “end police violence and excessive use of force against
protesters across Turkey” in a statement published on the
group’s website.

“The police’s record on abusive policing has been surpassed as
they use tear gas and water cannon fire against peaceful
demonstrators,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior Turkey
researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“The government’s failure to respect the right to protest and
to speak out is fuelling discontent among people in Turkey,”
she added.

15:45 GMT: Turks have gathered in front of the EU
Parliament in Brussels to protest violence in Turkey, chanting
anti-government slogans and holding banners, RT’s Tesa Arcilla
reports. “This is not about a park. It’s about the abuse of
state power. It’s about media being censored. This is about
democracy,” reads one of the banners held by protesters.

13:49 GMT: The police are withdrawing from Taksim Square
in Istanbul, allowing the people to protest, the state-run
Anadolu Agency reported.

13:27 GMT: Nearly 1,000 people have been injured in
clashes with the police in Istanbul alone, and at least six of
them lost eyes after being hit by gas canisters, Reuters reported
citing Turkish Doctors’ Association.

The European parliament and human rights groups such as Amnesty
International raised their concern about excessive use of force
by police in Turkey. The US State Department said it is concerned
about the high number of injuries.

“The severity shown by the police is completely
disproportionate and is leading to a spreading of the
protests,” Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament and
a leading member of Social Democratic Party of Germany said in a
statement.

13:19 GMT: The ongoing protests in Turkey are being
“hijacked” by oppositional minded forces and even criminal
elements attempting to air their own grievances with the current
government, Mahir Zeynalov, a reporter from the Turkish daily
newspaper, ‘Today's Zaman', told RT.

“All these protesters are not out on the streets protesting
the cutting of several trees. The main opposition are trying to
get behind these protests,” Zeynalov argues. “There are
really sincere protesters that have legitimate demands… but this
has gone well beyond what they were initially protesting. It has
become an opportunity for other groups to stage their protests
and to use the opportunity to actually attack police forces and
express their discontent about the government’s other
policies.”

13:09 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
urged to end the protests raging for the second day.

“I call on the protesters to stop their demonstrations
immediately,” Erdogan said, demanding they not cause
“further damage to visitors, pedestrians and shopkeepers.”

10:17 GMT: Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan stressed that he
would push ahead with plans to redevelop Istanbul's central
Taksim Square despite protests, according to Reuters. Erdogan
pointed out that the redevelopment plans were being used by
protesters as a pretext to escalate tensions.

09:59 GMT: As quoted by Mahir Zeynalov, a correspondent
for ‘Today’s Zaman’, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan commented on
the events: “Construction works in Gezi Park in Taksim is not
related to the Topçu barrack construction. Everyone has a right
to protest peacefully. But no one has right to occupy and disrupt
public order. All attempts to change the government other than
via the ballot box are anti-democratic, illegal.”

06:20 GMT: Police are firing teargas to bar the protesters
from reaching the main square, AP reported Saturday morning.

05:40 GMT: Security has been stepped up in the metropolis,
with police forces drafted from other regions. Some districts in
Istanbul have been cordoned off. Traffic is currently at a
standstill.

04:55 GMT: Thousands are crossing the Bosphorus Bridge
this morning, to get to Taskim Square in the heart of Istanbul,
marking the second day of protest turbulence engulfing Istanbul.

02:34 GMT: The photos show angry crowds in the streets of
the Turkish capital, Ankara, overnight. Thousands rallied in the
center of the city earlier on Friday chanting for the government
to resign. Police fired tear gas to disperse several dozen
opposition supporters trying to reach the AKP
headquarters.

01:20 GMT: Thousands of fans from the three largest soccer
teams in Turkey joined the demonstrators in Istanbul, Ayda said.

01:18 GMT: As of 3:00am local time, even the most remote
and quiet neighborhoods of Istanbul had joined in the protest,
Ayda, a demonstrator, told RT. People are "banging on pots and
pans, yelling, honking their car horns on the streets, and
yelling slogans like "Erdogan, istifa!" (Turkish: Erdogan,
resign!)."

00:00 GMT: Istanbul resident Tan Tunali told RT Istiklal
Caddesi, the street leading to Taksim Square, was almost empty as
of 2:00am local time, with the protesters spreading to other
streets. “Now a lot of people spontaneously started taking to
the streets and probably many of them are trying to get to
Taksim.”

Friday, May 31

23:50 GMT: According to an Istanbul-based activist, who
has chosen to go by the alias Pink Pig, the protest is growing
bigger. “People are coming from everywhere.” A witness
video shows that the demonstration has spread to the Besiktas
Sqaure, which is to the west of Taksim Square.

“Today the police used gas bombs and water cannon to get the
protesters away from the Gezi park. And then from Taksim square
too. They closed all the entries to the Taksim square. They
closed the Taksim metro station. Since the morning we smelt gas
in the streets of Taksim,” the activist told RT.

22: 40 GMT: Witness says '1000s of people in Ankara closed
off the protocol road, marching toward the parliament building.'
Earlier reports emerged of the protests and tear-gas having
spread from Istanbul's Gezi to the capital Ankara. Protesters
also witnessed at two locations in Izmir, according to social
media pictures. Thousands are currently reported to be marching
towards the Parliament.